Saving Sourdi: It’s All About Perspective In “Saving Sourdi”, May-lee Chai foreshadows the ending of the short story by using elements such as creative imagery and characterization of different perspectives in the beginning of the short story. When she first appears in the short story, Nea instantly displays aggressive behavior in order to protect her sister from a man. She seemingly protects her older sister from a threatening man by stabbing the man with a knife. Nea tries to justify her rash behavior by say that, “he was hurting Sourdi!” (Chai 282). Throughout the short, Nea continues to defy rules and act impulsively due to her protective nature of Sourdi and sees her sister’s relationship with men threatening her own as the story progresses. …show more content…
In the opening sequence, Nea describes their move to ‘real America’ from “...the hot sweaty America where we lived packed together in an apartment with bars on the windows on a street where angry boys in cars played loud music and shot guns at each other in the night” (281). Despite already living in America, she has this idolistic dream of America influenced by the talks of running away when they are older between her and Sourdi. Their dream is never fulfilled due to Sourdi’s arranged marriage, furthering the physical and metaphorical distance between the two sisters. However, when she receives a phone call from her distraught sister, thinking the worst has happened, Nea goes to Sourdi’s house to convince her to run away. Nea describes Sourdi’s house as, “The lace under curtains before the cheerful flowered draperies, the flourishing plants in the windows, next to little trinkets, figurines in glass that caught the light. Every space crammed with something sweet” (292). However, the inside of the house is a mess: “Baby toys on the carpet, shoes in a pile by the door, old newspapers scattered on an end table anchored by a bowl of peanut shells. The TV was blaring somewhere, and a baby was crying” (292). These contrasting descriptions of the Sourdi’s house echos Nea’s confusion of fantasy with reality. Her idolistic dream of having a close relationship with her sister clouds her from seeing that has her sister has matured and no longer needs their relationship like she
First she begins by writing about elephant culture, and explaining their traditions within a few pages. Then she begins to describe either a flash-back going back in one of the 4 main characters lives, or she will start to portray one Mud’s highly descriptive psychic visions. The content and theme of this book is built/revolves around the use of multiple techniques to foreshadow upcoming events. It is almost as if the author wants the readers to be able to predict what occurs within the novel.
Used in great magnitude throughout the novel, the inevitably important element of foreshadowing is used skillfully by the author to arouse a thought-provoking uncertainty within the reader. Foreshadowing, as presented in Gathering Blue, invigorates deep interest within the reader through ominous occurrences that only provide a slight hint of intimidating future events or betrayals that have potential to bring doom and misery. For only a slight hint is provided, the reader has considerable freedom to imagine what doom lays ahead, resulting in a gradual intensification of the novel’s suspense. The author writes, “Now she was all alone. Kira felt the aloneness, the uncertainty, and a great sadness.” (p.4), “Suddenly Kira realized with horror what the sound was. But now there was only silence.” (p.121), “He lowered the robe then, and she saw nothing more. Perhaps,
Often, when a story is told, it follows the events of the protagonist. It is told in a way that justifies the reasons and emotions behind the protagonist actions and reactions. While listening to the story being cited, one tends to forget about the other side of the story, about the antagonist motivations, about all the reasons that justify the antagonist actions.
Many times in life things are not as they seem. What may look simple on the surface may be more complicated deeper within. Countless authors of short stories go on a journey to intricately craft the ultimate revelation as well as the subtle clues meant for the readers as they attempt to figure out the complete “truth” of the story. The various authors of these stories often use different literary techniques to help uncover the revelation their main characters undergo. Through the process of carefully developing their unique characters and through point of view, both Edith Wharton and Ernest Hemingway ultimately convey the significant revelation in the short stories, “Roman Fever” and “Hills Like White Elephants” respectively. The use of these two literary techniques is essential because they provide the readers with the necessary clues to realize the ultimate revelations.
Edgar Allan Poe, a famous American writer and a poet, had written several short stories such as “William Wilson,” “The Fall of the House and Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and poems such as “The Bells” and “The Raven,” which was one of the most famous poems ever written in English. There is always something different about Poe’s writing. Most of the classical murders make a person ask “who’s done it?” but his writings such as “The Cask of Amontillado” makes one ask the why question “why did he [Montresor] do it?” (Baraban). Every “detail in his [Poe’s] works that appear” has a purpose behind it (Baraban) and he “rarely depended on much dialogue in constructing his stories (Benton). In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe uses setting, foreshadowing,
'Tender Mercies,'; written by Horton Foote, is a screenplay, which presents to the reader ordinary people, who are trying to live decently in an unpredictable and violent world. The reader comes to be aware of many dramatic scenes where the central characters have come to experience many complex but yet fascinating situations in their lives. Reading this screenplay the reader will come to acknowledge one of the centralized themes in 'Tender Mercies,'; which is the theme of redemption. For those who are unaware of the word, redemption as it applies to the screenplay 'Tender Mercies'; is the literary word meaning to be saved or saving someone from an experience or a situation. The reader can observe this redemption at various times through many characters, such as: Mac, Rosa Lee, Sunny, and Dixie. Each one of these characters has been redeemed by other characters or has been the redeemer of other characters. Thus, in the paragraphs to proceed, the reader will be introduced to these exact characters and to the situations from which these characters were redeemed from or whom they had redeemed. Alongside, the reader will also come to recognize how this theme provides the clearest reason why 'Tender Mercies'; is neither a Tragedy nor Pathos.
Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jenny Cromie. Vol 39. Detroit: Gale, 2000. Short Story
Short stories are temporary portals to another world; there is a plethora of knowledge to learn from the scenario, and lies on top of that knowledge are simple morals. Langston Hughes writes in “Thank You Ma’m” the timeline of a single night in a slum neighborhood of an anonymous city. This “timeline” tells of the unfolding generosities that begin when a teenage boy fails an attempted robbery of Mrs. Jones. An annoyed bachelor on a British train listens to three children their aunt converse rather obnoxiously in Saki’s tale, “The Storyteller”. After a failed story attempt, the bachelor tries his hand at storytelling and gives a wonderfully satisfying, inappropriate story. These stories are laden with humor, but have, like all other stories, an underlying theme. Both themes of these stories are “implied,” and provide an excellent stage to compare and contrast a story on.
The busy season for the shop she was working on came and the owner of the shop kept demanding for what we call overtime. She got fired after she said, “I only want to go home. I only want the evening to myself!.” Yezierska was regretful and bitter about what happened because she ended up in cold and hunger. After a while she became a trained worker and acquired a better shelter. An English class for foreigners began in the factory she was working for. She went to the teacher for advice in how to find what she wanted to do. The teacher advised her to join the Women’s Association, where a group of American women helps people find themselves. One of the women in the social club hit her with the reality that “America is no Utopia.” Yezierska felt so hopeless. She wondered what made Americans so far apart from her, so she began to read the American history. She learned the difference between her and the Pilgrims. When she found herself on the lonely, untrodden path, she lost heart and finally said that there’s no America. She was disappointed and depressed in the
It should be mentioned that the story uses a myriad of figurative and metaphoric imagery. Throughout the novel the narrator injects his own views, often leading the reader to a deeper questioning of the story as it unfolds. He frequently speaks about what would happen if the main character were to do things in a different way. Also, through the interjection of varying levels of foreshadowing the reader gets a sense of where the story is headed. At one point the narrator says “…were I to t...
In “Saving Sourdi” by May-Lee Chai, the author uses foil characters in the relationship of two sisters, Nea and Sourdi. Their contrasting personalities are at the center of the plot. In fictional stories, “The main purpose of a character foil is to highlights the opposite traits of the main character”(Development of Characters). The foil character is Sourdi, her personality traits are opposite of the main character, Nea. The contrast allows Nea, the protagonist, to stand out more distinctly. The author shows the reader that Nea is headstrong, impulsive, and immature. In contrast, Sourdi is more laid back and mature. Examples of the foil are evident throughout the passage. In the scene where Nea stabs a man in the arm for tormenting her sister, her Ma states to Nea,“You not thinking. That your problem. You always not thinking!” (Meyer pg. 83) Nea wanted to protect her sister, but Nea does not think of the consequences for stabbing the man. In contrast, Sourdi always thinks of consequences. Sourdi's response to Nea, “They could take you away. The police, they
Short stories are a form of literature works that authors use to communicate various themes and issues to the reader. As such, it is common for different short stories authored by different people to have a central meaning or theme that differs from each other. In addition, the way the author portrays his/her central theme or meaning would differ from the way other authors would craft their short stories to best portray their central meaning. While some would use characterization as a means of portraying the theme of their story, other authors employ the use of symbols to better communicate their theme. However, some slight similarities can always be drawn between short stories. ‘Hills like White
The relationship between Nel and Sula begins during their adolescent years. Though they are complete opposites, they seem to work well with each other, depending on one another for comfort and support. The two spend almost all of their time together, learning from one another and growing as a result. They take solace in the presence of one another, finding comfort in what the other finds bothersome and using the lifestyle of the one another to compensate for their shortcomings. When Sula first visits Nel's home, "Nel, who regarded the oppressive neatness of her home with dread, felt comf...
Wilson, M. & Clark, R. (n.d.). Analyzing the Short Story. [online] Retrieved from: https://www.limcollege.edu/Analyzing_the_Short_Story.pdf [Accessed: 12 Apr 2014].
Neruda was deeply infatuated with Josie, but never intended to stay with Josie for the rest of his life. Josie was truly in love with Neruda, but as a result of Neruda's lack of interest in her as a person, she was possessive of Neruda. She was temperamental, she didn't trust Neruda to stay loyal, and she threatened Neruda's life. It was a relationship not meant to last. As a wise man once said, "A relationship is a partnership", and in a partnership, it takes two to tango; when it's only one person putting in the effort, is it really a